This Time You're Not Alone
by daielight
Summary: She's lost her mother. Again. But this time, there is no hope of return, no hope that eventually, she will be back. And yet this time, Anna has someone. Anna/Jeremy.


**This is my frist Vampire Diaries one-shot, so I'd appriciate the feedback :) Sorry its so short... I kind of lost my motivation. This takes place right after the last Jeremy/Anna scene in "Isobel".**

* * *

_What do you do for someone who has just lost, well pretty much everything? What _can_ you do? _

She's lost her mother. Again. But this time, there is nothing that can bring her back. No hope of return, no hope that eventually, she will be back. And yet this time, Anna has someone. This time, she's not going to be on her own as the pain threatens to destroy her.

It's late. So late that it's getting to the point where for some it would be early. Yet the world outside them seems to have stopped all together, disappearing from their minds and leaving them to be wrapped in each other as the darkness slowly fades on the horizon. Anna lies on the bed, eyes closed as sobs shake her frame. The noise is quieter now, fading from the loud, grief-stricken sobs to the silent, glassy-eyed disconnect that accompanies exhaustion. Her breathing is ragged, the air that has not been a necessity for many years, rather just an unbreakable habit, travels in and out of her hollow lungs, rattling as her body shudders with grief.

Beside her, arms wrapped around her with the strength and fortitude that is required when holding together someone as broken as Anna, is Jeremy. His eyes are closed, but he is far from sleep. The lights have been off for hours now, and they find themselves surrounded by a quiet fractured only by Anna's broken hiccups. There is no wind tonight, no storm or rain to reflect the horrors that have taken place. No, instead there is only an impenetrable calmness. An infuriating peace. How can the universe not be reeling from the destruction of Anna's mother? How can it not see the broken girl curled weakly in the arms of the human boy? How can it be so infuriatingly peaceful outside this room where Jeremy so dutifully holds the broken Anna?

Blackness fades slowly into a half-light, and Jeremy feels Anna stir. A moment later she is rolling slowly to face him, careful not to hurt his arm as she turns. Her eyes are glassy, gaze hazy as she looks at him. Her gentle crying has stopped, and now she just lies there, motionless, as Jeremy adjusts himself, freeing his hand to bring it up and gently stroke her face. There is nothing he wouldn't do for Anna: she means too much to him now. And yet, he doesn't know what to do. What to say that will take the aching away. Jeremy's fingers linger on Anna's cheek, and her eyes close, face moving into his touch.

She seems so weak, so fragile, so… human. Not that Jeremy hasn't thought of her as human for the entire time he's known her; just that he hasn't seen her crumble before. Her strength and fire have always been present. Even in her sadness, Anna has always had an undeniable strength. She's always had a flicker of fire behind her eyes. Now, she seems like something as little as a loud noise would shatter what remains of her sanity, and Jeremy can't stand to see her like this. He can't stand to be so helplessly useless as pain overwhelms her.

Before they know it, it will be morning, just one more reminder of the world's insistence that it waits for no one. No horror is large enough to make the world stop turning. No one being's horror has an impact big enough to alter the universe. It is a strange comfort to Anna, almost as if the world is saying: _"It's ok. You can just stay there for now. I'll hide you, and when it's all over, you can catch up with me again."_

Jeremy can feel his eyelids sinking shut, his fingers brushing over Anna's face once more before they move to intertwine with hers. A pale light plays at the edges of the room as the sun continues its ascent into the pale morning sky. Anna moves closer, and Jeremy wraps his free arm around her, hugging her tight. He's going to keep her safe now. Now and forever.

"Thank-You," Anna's raspy voice startles Jeremy from his thoughts.

"For what?" the question presents itself to Anna before Jeremy is even able to fully form itself in his mind.

"For staying with me."

Jeremy smiles, his gaze finding Anna's before he leans in to slowly brush his lips against her cheek.

_Well, the answer was really quite simple. You be the one thing they haven't lost._


End file.
